akmal's bike park

Tuesday, 30 March 2010

If you're doing posters or flyers for cycling event using Microsoft Office, consider using clip arts as the stock image/icon/vector graphics.

Here's the link for my search on 'bicycle' in Microsoft Office Online clip art. It returned 31 pages of 12 clip arts featuring all sorts of bicycles, although included in the set are 3 motorbikes (appahalll... bicycle wannabes?).

Other uses include as a temporary image/avatar for bike forum membership, or even facebook. Just don't use them as a 'bike for sale' photo for your BBS ad.

Friday, 19 March 2010

He was in Seri Alam last weekend with his family and my parents for a relative's wedding in Bandar Penawar (Saturday) and Taman Pelangi (Sunday).

I invited him to ride offroad with me in Seri Alam, while he's here. And he's up for it. So he brought along his helmet, bag (with patches, patch kit and multi-tool ready), and shoes. Naza and I offered him the Diamondback as his ride.

I woke up a bit late that Sunday morning, and rushed to do a few things. I went to Osman to get take-away roti canai for the family's breakfast, while he's at home stuffing Innova with our bikes and riding paraphernalia.

8:00 am we arrived in Ruza Taman Scientex for our breakfast. He went for his, while I was busy setting up our rides. Only after that I took my breakfast of nasi goreng with fried egg and warm Milo all devoured in 5 minutes time. Should've asked the girl at the restaurant to blend my breakfast + Milo - easier for me to slurp it up while riding towards Flora Heights.

Yup, we went offroad from FH, with 14 other riders that morning. Amri's knees gave way during the climb, and so he TnT (turun and tolak) all the way up. I chaperoned him and kept his company.

After FH, we went on another mild climb in the rubber plantation until the stop before going down the rodeo downhill. Another TnT for my bro, and another slow ride for me. Along the route, however, when it's a mild downhill, I sped up :). I don't know how long it took to regroup with the others, but I'm sure the guys are having a good time resting after the climb (while donating blood, of course).

We went into various terrains - uphill, downhill, singletracks, wide paths, rocky trail, rubber plantation, palm oil plantation, and a visit to the lake. Also, to the usual stops - Mashi Maro and Badminton. Quite comprehensive, and it would be even better if we have a waterfall too!

Among the riders are also Wahid of MR MoBiC who came all the way from Melaka. It's always a pleasure to have people from outside our locality to join the rides. Anyway, the trails are not that unfamiliar to him, for he rode with us here before this. It was in March last year. Hmmm... seems like an annual excursion, eh...

Amri and I went out at Seri Alam's Big Valley Ranch at around 12.30pm. We pedaled home straight away, with the idea of fetching the car at Taman Scientex later on. Reason being, we are to leave for the wedding reception after zuhr. Of course, yours truly was a bit exhausted as well. Have to admit that.

For me, it's quite a nice ride. Especially as I have not ridden the trails in March at all. Much more, is the presence of my brother.

Wednesday, 17 March 2010

Perhaps the best BMX movie I've ever watched (all three of them, including Roda Roda, a Malaysian movie) during my primary school years. Someone from my neighbourhood was able to get the VHS tape (plus located the player), and we gathered to watch the actions in awe. To me, especially the backflip that the main character practiced at home (and failed many times, of course) and executed well in the race.

What's nice to see during those time was that in the US, they already have proper dirt track for BMX races on the hill, flowing through trees and rocky sections much like XC trails. This, of course is to compare it with the BMX track at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa for races on Hari Wilayah (those were the days, my friends).

It'd be rad to have a copy of the official DVD. If they are to release it.

Keep your store room neat. Put your wheelsets, rims or tires in the spare tire bag. The size is quite right for a pair of mtb wheelsets, although you may find that at times you would have to squeeze them in a bit.

If you store both your front and rear wheelsets together, you might want to consider putting a rag or foam between them to protect the skewers, cassette and spokes from rubbing each other during handling. Otherwise, you can have dedicated bags for front and rear wheelsets.

If, like me, you prefer to carry your bike in the car rather than using the rear rack, you can use the bag to stow your mud laden wheelsets in the bag and put them on the back seat or in the bonnet. Note that the mud's there not necessarily after offroad ride, it may present before the ride (lazy to wash, from last weekend offroad).

For the bike, perhaps you can use Frakta tarpaulin to put cover your car backseat as a liner.

Alternatively, for the bag, you can get quite the same item from Tesco stores. Look for it on the DIY aisles. Don't be surprised if you find other familiar Ikea items on their racks as well.

Sunday, 7 March 2010

With the family on tow, I went to Senawang yesterday for Yad's wedding this afternoon. Sorta killing three birds with one stone. The other agenda is balik kampung to my mother's place in Seremban Jaya (technically still in Senawang), and to pay a visit to Jeffree's bike shop at Taman Seri Pagi.

Actually there's nothing else for me to look for at a bike shop, buy hey, if I don't ride, I write. If I don't write, the bike shop I go to (macam banyak duit). Just browsing through, a few things caught my interest. Particularly, the Specialized Sirrus on display. Immediately I noticed that it's a commuter bike, with ergonomic grips (winged for the outer palm) and rigid fork with threaded hole for pannier rack. I didn't notice the suspension seatpost as stated in the specs on the website, though. At RM1680, it's a nice bike for RTW (and touring) it seems, with the sexy curvy top tube to boot... hmm...

While in the shop, Jeffree came up to me and said "Akmal tengok tengok dulu ya, saya ada kerja sikit nak buat". He remembers me by name! What a guy. Then shortly after three guys came in and were talking to Jeffree about a biking accident. I was not paying attention to what they were talking aboutTh, until suddenly someone said "tanya lah Man CIOCC ni... bla bla bla". Hey, wait. Man CIOCC is a follower of this blog. I extended my right hand to Man and said "Akmal". He replied, "akmal bike park?". He he... another face now attached to a familiar name. No camera at hand. If not, I would have another photo with my blog follower for my collection.

He was surprised I was in Senawang, when he learned that I live in Masai. Well, I'm sursprised to see him in Senawang too, as Man's house is in Bangi! So we spent some time chatting in the shop. Truly a chance meeting, I'm glad I went to the bike shop yesterday.